Don We Now ¶
Nice video by Jules Skloot. She was a dance grad student while I was at Sarah Lawrence. She basically only does amazing work.
Picturing Business in America ¶
The dot drawings that you see all over the Wall Street Journal are apparently called “hedcuts”:
In the spring of 2002, The Wall Street Journal donated a group of hedcuts, representing some of the United States’s foremost business leaders of recent years, to the National Portrait Gallery. These portrait drawings, based on photographs, attest to The Journal’s interest in the “primacy of the individual in both political and social systems.” Dedicated to preserving American history by collecting portraits of women and men who have significantly influenced our culture, the National Portrait Gallery welcomes this gift, which helps to chronicle the history of business in our nation.
This exhibition explores the development, the technique, and the implications of these illustrations. It also explores the biographies of a number of individuals whose unique contributions to American business and culture the Journal has reported during the past quarter-century.
Narcissus Places a Personal Ad ¶
This Short Imagined Monologue from McSweeney’s by Matteson Perry is the secret to my recent auditioning successes. Let’s hope it holds up tomorrow as well. I take the liberty to make a couple of cuts:
I’ll start with a little bit about myself. First off, I’m handsome. Very handsome. So handsome, in fact, that people have called me “beautiful” and “gorgeous,” terms typically reserved for beautiful women. That’s how good-looking I am. Whatever. I don’t want to get into which term of beauty best describes my attractiveness, but, rest assured, you will not be disappointed. (I know I never am.) When you first see me without a shirt, you will probably lose your breath a little bit, as if you had just fallen into cold water. Don’t worry, this is normal. Get used to it, because I don’t wear my shirt much. If I had to name my best asset, I’d probably say everything. My calves are like perfectly cooked turkey legs, you could use my chin as a straight edge while working on a blueprint, and my skin is the color of a perfectly roasted marshmallow. Dozens of people have gotten “lost” in my eyes (I include myself in that count), so consider yourself forewarned! I’ve been asked by more than one child to be their new daddy. (Don’t interpret this to mean I like kids—-I’m just saying I’m way more handsome than a lot of fathers.) My interests include gazing into lakes, pools, mirrors, freshly waxed cars, shop windows, metal elevator doors, the back of a spoon, and most anything else that’s reflective. Once you see me you’ll understand. I like to think of myself as pretty laid-back and down to earth. I love to travel. My favorite food is pizza.
Short. Imagined. Monologue. Perfect.
Mumbai After the Smoke Has Cleared ¶
From The Big Picture. I have no words.
Is the Gender Gap Narrowing? ¶
According to The Boston Globe:
Men are losing jobs at far greater rates than women as the industries they dominate, such as manufacturing, construction, and investment services, are hardest hit by the downturn. Some 1.1 million fewer men are working in the United States than there were a year ago, according to the Labor Department. By contrast, 12,000 more women are working.
This gender gap is the product of both the nature of the current recession and the long-term shift in the US economy from making goods, traditionally the province of men, to providing services, in which women play much larger roles, economists said. For example, men account for 70 percent of workers in manufacturing, which shed more than 500,000 jobs over the past year. Healthcare, in which nearly 80 percent of the workers are women, added more than 400,000 jobs.
Gay Marriage And The GOP ¶
Andrew Sullivan on the Prop 8 voting breakdown:
The trouble for the GOP is that this is one of very few issues on which Asians, Latinos and blacks vote for them. But it reinforces the identity of the party as primarily that of white, less educated fundamentalist voters. I’ve no doubt there’s a place for such a party in American politics. I also have little doubt it will never be a majority.
History in the Making ¶
At least David Denby offers a powerful performance by Frank Langella in the upcoming Frost/Nixon to look forward to:
Langella has mastered the rumbling voice with its occasional touch of animal growl. He leans forward as he walks, almost apelike as his arms hang down; he gets Nixon’s heaviness of bearing, the awkwardness, the grotesque sentimentality, and also his power, the dangerousness even in retreat. This man notices many things, including any eccentricity of dress, any hint of weakness in his opponent, and he’s cagey about offering signs of friendliness—an anecdote, a bit of personal advice—that would make Frost falter.
But you can really tell all that from the trailer.
The Existential Clown ¶
Nice little meditation on Jim Carrey by James Parker in this month’s Atlantic. Be sure to catch his video commentary.
The Moment ¶
According to the site, “The Moment is a blog that spans the T Magazine universe of fashion, design, food and travel.” How did I never find this before?
It’s Alaska! ¶
Gabe’s brilliant take on the Katie Couric interview with Sarah Palin. Wonderful animation. He’s getting good at this stuff.
Instapaper Feedback ¶
Aaron Lammer:
[T]hank you for creating something that encourages, rather than replaces, thought.
Couldn’t agree more. (via Cameron Hunt)
Prop 8 The Musical ¶
Great cast. Short and sweet. Very funny. Made it all the way from Andy Baio to Rachel Maddow. (And may I just say – I love Neil Patrick Harris.)
Python 3.0 Release ¶
Looking forward to giving this a spin when I have a chance.
Super Obama World ¶
Pure brilliance. (Thanks, Beth.)
The Grid System ¶
Looks like a great resource for those interested in the use of grid systems in graphic design. (via John Gruber)
Give Me Something To Read ¶
Marco Arment put this together as a collection of “selections from among the most frequently bookmarked articles on Instapaper,” his excellent tool for bookmarking longer articles for later reading.
Mathematica Image Processing ¶
I don’t understand a word, but the images make this look really cool.
The Black Diamond ¶
Beautiful shot of the view from Copenhagen’s Black Diamond:Den_Sorte_Diamant_1.jpg library. My sister is currently studying abroad there and goes to the library to work. Jealous? Me too.
SNL’s Take on Arianna Huffington ¶
Actually pretty decent.
Fawkward Podcast Beta ¶
In which Adam and I rip the Blackberry Storm a new one.
The Fly and the Eye ¶
Inventive little short film, sent in by Gabe Aronson.
Apparently Since Monday ¶
YouTube went widescreen on the 24th. Gotta say it makes the old 4:3 stuff look even douchier.
Chicken Head Tracking ¶
I can’t help it. Since when is YouTube widescreen? (via Andy Baio)
Let Detroit Go Bankrupt ¶
Mitt Romney(!) in the New York Times:
Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself. With it, the automakers will stay the course — the suicidal course of declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.
Wow.
The Wrestler ¶
Aronofsky’s upcoming movie looks really intriguing. Great cast. Yes, that includes Evan Rachel Wood.
Private Ear Audio Theatre ¶
Not quite done yet, but I wanted to show off this design anyway. My friend Gabe did the wonderful graphics, and I set the text. I’m pretty happy with how the site has turned out so far.
Joe the Grave Digger ¶
Andrew Sullivan:
It hit me the other day what he is. He’s the comic relief in the fifth act of a Shakespearean tragedy. Think the grave digger in Hamlet. Alas, poor McCain. I knew him, Horatio.
Let’s hope.
The Lost Years & Last Days of David Foster Wallace ¶
David Lipsky has a great profile in memory of David Foster Wallace. (via Kottke)
The Rove Realignment ¶
Ryan Sager thinks the Republican Party is splintering into big-government social conservatives and fiscally conservative social moderates.
Red Sex, Blue Sex ¶
Margaret Talbot discusses trends in sexual behavior among teenagers and maps the differences in family dynamics between red and blue states. The gist: abstinence-only education doesn’t work, and blue families have a lot to say about building successful marriages.
Greenspan Concedes Error on Regulation ¶
Edmund L. Andrews reports.
George Packer on the End of an Era ¶
I haven’t been alive long enough to fully understand the long-standing trends of conservatism and liberalism in this country, but Packer’s opinion rings true to me:
The conservative movement was driven by the single unifying idea that government is the problem, not the solution. It attained and kept power through the highly successful political strategy of dividing the country into the hard-working, America-loving, God-fearing majority and the minority of élitist liberals who wanted to tell the majority what to do. What’s happened to that idea and that strategy over the past few weeks?
I think the simple answer has little to do with the current campaign and everything to do with the botched leadership of the past 8 years. In addition to needing to be called out for their war crimes, Bush and Cheney need to be called out for their utter disregard for true American values and reckless thwarting of the ideals that make America run.
Tiny Tim on Fresh Air in 1996 ¶
Shortly before he died on stage in 1996, musician Tiny Tim did an interview with Terry Gross. For a brief interview, it’s an interesting profile of the man, as he reflects not only on his way of thinking about his life, but shows how he really finds a way to embody all the music that he clearly has a passion for. His knowledge of music is stunning, and his description of new music as belonging to the young is apt and succinct.
Is Apple Becoming a Phone Company? ¶
Gruber thinks so.
The Weasel, Twelve Monkeys And The Shrub ¶
In 2000, Rolling Stone sent David Foster Wallace to report on the McCain campaign. His profile is a fantastic read and full of insight into the political feelings, especially among younger voters, of the time. (I think… I was 15 at the time.) This passage about leadership is particularly striking to me today:
Obviously, a real leader isn’t just somebody who has ideas you agree with, nor is it just somebody you happen to think is a good guy. A real leader is somebody who, because of his own particular power and charisma and example, is able to inspire people, with “inspire” being used here in a serious and non-cliché way. A real leader can somehow get us to do certain things that deep down we think are good and want to be able to do but usually can’t get ourselves to do on our own. It’s a mysterious quality, hard to define, but we always know it when we see it, even as kids. You can probably remember seeing it in certain really great coaches, or teachers, or some extremely cool older kid you “looked up to” (interesting phrase) and wanted to be just like. Some of us remember seeing the quality as kids in a minister or rabbi, or a Scoutmaster, or a parent, or a friend’s parent, or a supervisor in a summer job. And yes, all these are “authority figures,” but it’s a special kind of authority. If you’ve ever spent time in the military, you know how incredibly easy it is to tell which of your superiors are real leaders and which aren’t, and how little rank has to do with it. A leader’s real “authority” is a power you voluntarily give him, and you grant him this authority not with resentment or resignation but happily; it feels right. Deep down, you almost always like how a real leader makes you feel, the way you find yourself working harder and pushing yourself and thinking in ways you couldn’t ever get to on your own.
Don’t you wish you could inspire people? I think Obama might be able to.
A Boy’s Life ¶
Moving and thought-provoking piece on transgender children by Hanna Rosen.
Powell Backs Obama and Criticizes McCain Tactics ¶
Excellent.
Quirky serifs aside, Georgia fonts win on Web ¶
I’ve referred to this several times, but it’s worth a re-link. Georgia was commissioned by Microsoft and designed by Matthew Carter in the mid-1990s. It has been a runaway success as one of the first major typefaces designed specifically for the screen. Much of its popularity is owed to Microsoft, who released the font for free through its “Core fonts for the Web” collection, making it one of the few serif fonts available to web designers.
Georgia has been lucky, but from an aesthetic point of view, I personally think it deserves its accolades and widespread use. It is truly a great screen font, and has held up incredibly well as anti-aliasing has become the norm. I still wouldn’t use it much for print work, but it is my go-to typeface for any of my web work that needs a strong readable serif.
The Final Debate Is Up ¶
On Hulu. They’ve had excellent election coverage.
Final Debate Reax ¶
More Sullivan… this time he gathers a variety of reactions to tonight’s debate.